Witch
'Witch' Description In the ages long before the arrival of man, beings of tremendous power roamed Elysium. These beings were the unchallenged lords of the as yet unnamed realm. In time they tired of exploring the land and melded into the earth to sleep. They slumbered for ages and other beings came to the realm. The sounds and laughter of these new inhabitants disturbed the Sleeping Ones and sometimes one of them woke to punish the newcomers. As a result, the Sleeping Ones came to be feared and worshiped by the people of Elysium. The adherents of this old faith are called Witches and are feared by troll and man alike. Witches collect fungi from the marshes and forests of Elysium and use them to brew a decoction pleasant to the Old Ones. The smell of the cauldron makes them hungry and reminds their slow minds of the Time Before, when all was quiet and the land was theirs. In rage and hunger the Old Ones and their servants follow the Witch to reclaim their lands from the noisy, quick interlopers. The beings at the Witch's disposal are physically strong and easy to obtain, but they lack ranged attacks. Archers are a crucial supplement. The Witch's ability to collect fungi from forests and swamps provides her with excellent scouting capabilities. The more fungi she uses for summoning monsters, the greater the chance of controlling the summoned creature. It is prudent to use plenty of fungi when summoning an Old One, for they are very dangerous if angered. Abilities: *Witches collect fungi from forests and marshes. *Witches can use fungi to summon and control monsters. Lands Starting Spaces: 1 Tower Armies Starting Troops: 1 Witch, 1 Witch's Apprentice, 5 Androphag Spearmen, 5 Androphag Archers, 1 Androphag Cavalry Recruits: Leaders: # 1 Witch's Apprentice¹ ↳ Witch¹ ↳ Hag¹ ∗ 0 1 Androphag Lord ∗ 0 1 Manflayer² ∗ 0 ¹) Collects Fungi ²) Collects Hands of Glory *) Price varies Regulars: # 5 Androphag Spearmen 50 0 5 Androphag Archers 60 0 5 Androphag Cavalries 60 5 Summons: # 1 Ancient Hydra Summon Old One 1 Ancient Presence Summon Old One 1 Black Cat Familiar Minor Summoning 1-5 Blood Fungi Minor Summoning 1-2 Bog Beast(s) Minor Summoning 1 Catoblepas Summon Old One 1 Creeping Doom Major Summoning 1 Crocodile Minor Summoning 1 Dire Wolf Minor Smn (Nec) 1-10 Dispossessed Spirit(s) Minor Smn (Nec) 1 Doppelganger Major Summoning 1 Doppelganger Captain¹ Major Summoning # Doppel Spawns (special) 1 Dracolion Summon Old One 1 Echidna Summon Old One 1 Erinye Summon Old One 1 Frog Familiar Minor Summoning 1-10 Frog(s) Minor Summoning 1 Gelatinous Cube Major Summoning 1-3 Ghost Warrior(s) Minor Smn (Nec) 1-20 Ghoul(s) Minor Smn (Nec) 1 Giant Crocodile Major Summoning 1 Gorgon Summon Old One 1 Hydra Major Summoning 1-3 Hydra Hatchling(s) Minor Summoning 1 Marsh Worm Minor Summoning 1 Medusa Summon Old One 1 Monster Toad Major Summoning 1 Mound King¹ Minor Smn (Nec) 1 Mummy Minor Smn (Nec) 1 Raven Familiar Minor Smn (Nec) 1 Root Monster Major Summoning 1-3 Shade(s) Minor Smn (Nec) 1-5 Slime Mold(s) Minor Summoning 1 Spectral Horseman Minor Smn (Nec) 1-10 Swamp Ghost(s) Minor Summoning 1 Swamp God Summon Old One 1 Swamp Monster Minor Summoning 1 Swamp Thing Minor Summoning 1 Wight Minor Smn (Nec) 1 Will o'the Wisp Major Summoning 1 Wyrm Summon Old One ¹) Leader #) Doppel Spawns are created by a special attack from Doppelgangers and Doppelganger Captains and may be spawned by Echidnas. Strategy Refar32's strategy notes on the Witch: The Witch is one of my favorite classes. It mainly relies on a resource which is in plentiful supply and ignored by many opponents. It has powerful summons and useful spells. It's main weakness is the fact that summonings can go bad, but Fungus is so plentiful that it should be possible, at most times, to minimize unfortunate losses of control. The Witch also has no access to any kind of siege weaponry, which shouldn't have too much of an impact in most games, but should be kept in mind. There's some units that lend themselves to semi-cheesy tactics, for example a Creeping Doom can be used obliterate much larger enemy armies, provided the opposing force doesn't have access to elemental attacks or magic. Will o'the Wisps can soak up powerful creatures of the wilderness, but it's hard to summon multiple wisps - the recruitment pool of the Witches summoning spells is pretty large. In the late game, flagging a majority of swamps and forest should make it easy to field a huge army of powerful creatures, backed with a large amount of Androphag Archers and some spellcasters. Even though such an army would be far from invincible, it should put a player into a solid position to win the game from. Right, while the Witch may be a late game terror (especially if they are lucky enough to summon multiple Will o the Wisps (to farm powerful neutral monsters) or an echidna early/get multples... they spawn free units every turn!), they start with one of the worst armies possible (like most of the summoning classes). For the first year focus on stomping as many forests/jungles/swamps as possible, and only risk your army on a highly valuable target (such as a lightly guarded high-yeild mine, or village). In fact, its not a bad idea to forgo any combat until you can begin summoning things. Otherwise, taking even one lightly defended target can leave you with only 1-2 melee units, or worse- effectively crippling your army. Leave ~3-4 units in your citadel, and split the remaining few among your witches so they don't get ganked by deer. From there flag as many fungi-producing locations as possible so you can begin summoning ASAP. You are -very- vulnerable until you can begin buying/summoning reinforcements. You're 100% screwed if someone like the troll king, baron, or barbarian find you within a year or two (well, its possible to insta-kill the troll king if you have Charm and cast it before he smashes you, poor troll has precious little MR XD). On the flip side to this, the witches have decent magic (its mostly poison/mind altering), and powerful units, but they lack elemental magic. You can have problems against an elementalist/enchanter late game as most of your magic can be useless against them, and their units can/will be just as strong. Category:Classes